


Apostate armour

by I_hate_mages_No_you_dont



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Gen, just wanted to write something sweet and short, no excuse for this fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 05:25:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10430094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_hate_mages_No_you_dont/pseuds/I_hate_mages_No_you_dont
Summary: Bethany sometimes helps Anders with his chores. One day she cannot help but ask about Anders' coat.The explanation is not what she expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ethydium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ethydium/gifts).



> This is a bit of silly nonsense for @damnedapostate and Ihadracosplay (on instagram and facebook, she cosplays both Anders and Bethany <3 you have to see that)

“Why exactly are you wearing that coat, Anders?”

Anders had been aware of Bethany’s curious look for some time now. He hadn’t been sure what invoked her interest, but apparently, his wardrobe was stranger than he had thought.

“What do you mean by that?”

By the way the other mage blushed, Anders was beginning to question her line of thought. Bethany HAD spent an awful amount of time with Isabela lately. Could it be that their pirate friend was capable of corrupting the girl’s mind in so little time?

“It’s very odd armour, isn’t it?” She moved slightly to shift the weight of the basket she was carrying from one arm to another. They had bought a pile of supplies for the clinic and Bethany always insisted to help Anders with it. To be perfectly honest with himself, Anders really appreciated the help and interest, but towards Bethany he always said he would manage by himself. This time they had acquired new blankets and linen for bandages.

“Odd? You’re not exactly wearing mage robes yourself.” Anders raised an amused eyebrow at her. Funnily enough it was easier for him to fall back into his old habit of joking with Bethany. She was kind and patient. Qualities which in Anders’ opinion should be valued more by her family.

Bethany rolled her eyes and smiled. “It would be quite stupid to wear something so conspicuous in Kirkwall!” A hint of bitterness stole itself into her voice. To Anders that just seemed so wrong. Bethany should not be bitter. Nor sad. So he opted for even more irony to chase it away.

“Don’t tell me you’re sad we don’t get to wear these lovely, shapeless nightgowns they call robes? Pastel pin and orange would look so föattering on you, to be sure. Or would you rather have a lovely blue with purple piping?”

They had almost reached the clinic by now. So when Bethany broke out in a heartfelt laughter it clashed quite a bit with the surroundings. More than one pair of eyes was directed at them in either suspicion or annoyance. One of the first things Anders had learned in the shady part of Kirkwall was to keep emotional outbursts to himself if he didn’t want to end up with a knife at his throat. Or an arrow in his knee. But for Bethany he would risk that. She was like the sister he never had. From the stories she and Hawke shared with their friends, Anders could tell that life had not been nearly as kind to her as she deserved. Some Laughter had been part of it, but there could never be enough laughter in the world anyway.

“No!” After she had calmed down again, Bethany managed an amused shake of her head. “No. I am glad I never got put into these.”

With some effort, Anders managed to push down the handle of the door to his clinic, while balancing the supplies in his other hand. The wooden door swung open and he let Bethany step into the clinic first. He followed and tried to close the door with a gentle kick of his foot. As was to be expected he miscalculated the balance and force and the door flung shut and Anders tumbled backwards a bit. A loud and indignant hiss came from somewhere close to his feet.

Bethany quickly turned from where she stood at one of the cots to unload all the blankets and her eyes instantly spied the small tabby that had flown away from Anders’ clumsy steps.

“Awww!” Within a second she was down on her knees cooing at the cat, trying to coax her to come closer. “Anders, you got a cat?!”

As the healer had offended the cat quite a bit by interrupting her usual greeting of winding around his legs with his clumsiness, the cat turned and walked up towards Bethany. The younger mage happily reached out to let the cat nudge her head into the palm of her hand.

Another small squeal escaped Bethany. While Anders put down the basket with the bandages to keep himself from any further mishaps, he observed with a smile how the cat got closer to Bethany until it happily leaped into the outstretched arms and was lifted up.

“Since when do you have a cat? I though it’s quite dangerous for them down here?”

Bethany held the cat close and scratched her head. This kind of attention was rewarded with a deep purr and closed eyes.

“That’s why I keep the door shut. As long as she doesn’t get out, it should be safe.” Anders walked past Bethany to sort the blankets and distribute them on the empty cots. “I’m afraid I have to find someone to take her, though. Yesterday she got lost and I searched for half the night, only to come home and find her under my bed.”

“That is such a shame. You love cats so much!” Still busy with the purring feline, Bethany threw a sympathetic glance at Anders who in return sighed deeply. “That’s true. But it’s not safe. I don’t want her to end up…” He gulped and shook his head. He knew the poverty and despair in Darktown too well. It was foolish and naïve to doubt what happened to the cats that went missing. “…you know.”

Bethany’s face slipped a little and she instinctively held the cat a bit tighter than before. That shift in the hug made the cat squirm against Bethany’s grasp and she climbed up towards Bethany’s shoulder. On her way up her claws dug into the skin through the fabric of her tunic and Bethany hissed in pain.

“No… no… don’t do that.” By that point, the cat had found a spot half hidden under Bethany’s hair, holding on tight with her claws. Bethany winced in pain. Luckily for her, Anders’ reaction to this was a lot quicker and more coordinated than with the door earlier and he swiftly and carefully scooped the cat from Bethany’s shoulders and placed her on his own. There the cat apparently found decent support in the soft feathers and the thick leather of the coat and made herself comfortable immediately.

“I should have warned you. She is a bit skittish and likes to do that.” A nod towards the cat was met by a soft nudge of her head. The cat had resumed purring again, her claws digging deep into feather and leather while she continued to rub her face against Anders’ stubble.

“Let me see to that scratch!” Always the healer Anders took a cautious step towards Bethany and almost instantly went to healing the claw marks on her neck and shoulder.

“How come you don’t mind that?” Bethany gave Anders’ a curious look and the older mage let out a chuckle. As he was done concentrating on the healing spell, he looked up again, a smirk playing across his lips.

“It’s funny that you ask. Because that brings us back to our earlier topic...” He reached up to pet the cat that was still firmly attached to his coat. “I wear that ‘armour’ against cat scratches. Leather was the only thing thick but flexible enough to allow me to move during a fight as if I wore robes. So… There you go.”

Disbelief flashed over Bethany’s features before she settled for amusement.

“You literally wear a coat so you can have cats sit on you?”

“That was the plan. And it’s working well so far.”

The tabby made a soft meowling sound and stretched her legs a bit before she clawed back into the soft material. Unlike Bethany, Anders didn’t even bat an eye. His cat armour was very effective after all.

**Author's Note:**

> To be fair that fanfic was heavily inspired by my own experience while sewing Anders' coat for a cosplay and our cat kept coming back to it and just sat on it whenever I was away for a second. And then clawed into it when I wore it. So... the idea of cat armour was born. Sorry if this is too silly XD


End file.
